Out-of-favour Barcelona fullback Aleix Vidal is one of the many defenders linked with a move away from the club this season, along with Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Marc Bartra.
With Dani Alves reportedly on his way to Turin, Gianluca Di Marzio has suggested that the two Milanese giants are interested in Barcelona right-back Aleix Vidal. Any potential deal for Inter and Milan would involve an initial loan with an option/obligation to buy at the end of the loan spell.
Vidal joined Barcelona last summer after a Europa League triumph with Unai Emery and Sevilla at a time when Barcelona had been slapped with a transfer embargo which meant the Spaniard wouldn’t be available for Luis Enrique until January. However, since January, he has made only 9 appearances for the Catalan side and has been completely frozen out of the squad in the last two months.
Vidal started at the famed La Masia academy, but moved away from Barcelona because of a lack of opportunities. After establishing himself in the Spanish top flight with Almeria and Sevilla, he returned to the Camp Nou. Unfortunately, his second spell at Barcelona did not go as planned either. Reports in the Spanish media suggested that Vidal’s lack of determination to compete for a spot in the starting lineup could be responsible for his lack of first-team opportunities.
The interested parties
Calciomercato reported that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are vying for the 26-year-old Spaniard, who understandably failed to make it in Spain’s Euro 2016 squad following his poor season. Although Blaugrana boss Luis Enrique is unlikely to hold the player back, the matter of the transfer fee remains instrumental since Barcelona shelled out €18 million euros for the defender just last summer and would like to see some returns on that investment.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan and AC Milan are in dire need of proper fullbacks. As such, the Vidal links make a degree of sense for both clubs. Vidal would make a strong case for a starting spot at both Serie A clubs, since the Milan fullbacks are very injury prone and the Inter fulbacks are simply not up to the mark. Davide Santon, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Ignazio Abate and Mattia De Sciglio have all been underwhelming at best last season for their respective teams.
Vidal would be reunited with former teammate Carlos Bacca should he choose to go to AC Milan, and may even be reunited with his former boss Unai Emery, given the Sevilla manager is one of the leading candidates to take over next season at the San Siro.
